http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/story.html?id=b4744248-4141-440f-a9ee-e7958c0572a2&k=18029
How does one explain this? I imaginge that this was in the works before the conservative surge in the polls and so would have happened whatever party was in power. There's another page that I did not post.
Company plans private health care for Ont. this summer
Across Canada by 2007
Mike Oliveira, Canadian Press
Published: January 12, 2006
TORONTO -- A private health-care company announced Wednesday that it plans to move into Ontario this summer and every major Canadian city by 2007, but the province's health minister threatened heavy fines if the company contravenes legislation.
The announcement by Copeman Healthcare raised immediate criticism from observers, who warned such moves will erode the public system by redirecting resources and expertise to wealthier patients.
Copeman Healthcare said new clinics will open this summer in Toronto, Ottawa and London, Ont., while clinics could open in Halifax, Montreal, Winnipeg, Regina, Saskatoon, Edmonton, Calgary and Victoria within a couple of years.
For a $1,200 enrolment fee and $2,300 a year, Copeman Healthcare will offer access to a general practitioner plus specialists in the fields of cardiology, urology, orthopedics, neurology, oncology, gynecology, sports injury and pain management.
"It's time for action, not further debate," said founder and president Don Copeman, who opened the company's first private clinic in Vancouver last fall.
"We have very real solutions that can help Canada avert a crisis in primary care, and we believe that solving the problems in primary care is the key to the overall sustainability of our health-care system."
While Ontario Health Minister George Smitherman did not say he will stop the company from opening the clinics, he said he isn't endorsing the plan and needs to know more before he does so.
He said he's particularly concerned about the initiation fee, which seems to contravene provincial legislation.
"You can't have an access fee that a patient has to pay before they can receive service," Smitherman said. "That is exactly the kind of fee that seems to be a barrier to equitable access."
He said the provincial Commitment to the Future of Medicare Act outlines penalties of up to $25,000 per offence, including illegally charging patients for insured services or charging for quicker access to services, also known as queue jumping.
But Copeman insisted the company is acting within the guidelines of the Canada Health Act and provincial legislation, and said the government, not patients, gets a bill for any insured services covered by the Ontario Health Insurance Plan.
He suggested the private clinics will actually benefit the broader population. He said the clinics will save governments money by lessening the burden on the public system and keeping its clients healthier. Those healthier people will reduce demand for costly public treatments down the road, Copeman said.
Each of the Ontario clinics would have eight physicians and accept no more than 4,000 patients to limit wait times.
Minister of Health Promotion Jim Watson said health care should be based on a patient's need for treatment, not his or her bank account.
"I'm certainly concerned when I hear some people . . . saying, 'If it's a couple extra thousand dollars, I don't mind paying that,' " Watson said.
